I remarked on this whilst watching this episode too! Certainly noticeable in a few points.

From Wikipedia;

DS Benjamin Jones—the third character to act as Barnaby's assistant. Unlike the his predecessors (DS Troy and DS Scott), who first appeared on the series as sergeants, Jones was a uniformed police constable when first introduced. He was first appointed as a Detective Constable (after assisting Barnaby in DS Scott's absence), and later promoted to Detective Sergeant by the end of his first series. Jones is considerably less naive than his predecessors, often possessing an insight into cases that neither Scott nor Troy would have. He is Welsh, and remarks about his love for Wales when he and Barnaby travel there in the episode "Death and Dust". He is formerly a Freemason, as revealed in "King's Crystal". In the episode "Death in Chorus" Jones exhibits a remarkable vocal talent and is recruited to sing tenor in the Midsomer Worthy choir. In "Death in the Slow Lane" it is revealed that he was interested in replacing Tom Barnaby upon his retirement, and was a little put out by Tom's cousin John being transferred to the position instead.

It made a pleasant change to have no Druids,Devil worshippers, or anyone dressed up in stupid costumes, and not even a mad vicar in sight.

Very enjoyable , like some of the early ones with John Nettles. I agree that the ending was a bit daft , but it was enjoyable getting there.

I like the new Mrs B , but I wish there was a Cully substitute rather than the dog.

Barnaby II and Jones looked a bit daft in their tracksuits

I like the dog more than the missus, and wish he had more to do!

Him and the new Mrs B might do a Joyce and stumble across a body one of these days

Now I think about it the fact that Mrs B's trainer turned out to be the killer is the sort of thing that would always be happening to Joyce and/or Cully in the old days.

Yep, I liked that one - it's a thumbs up from me...

True ,. but importantly they , or anyone else was not wearing a Viking helmet or something similar. I usually switch off either mentally or literally when that happens.

And Mrs B hasn't been to any craft clubs or art classes this series, or did I miss that.

Don't forget the first episode of Midsomer murders the brilliant Rainbirds at 9pm tonight on itv3

Yay!! nice to see some positive comments on the lovely Neil and MM here for a change. As a fan of ND you may like to check out my Neil website. http://www.neil-dudgeon.net

That's a good fansite you're running there, and it's nice to see Neil himself taking an active role - something which many actors/entertainers fail to do.

I'm really enjoying all the new episodes.

Richard Cant and Elizabeth Spriggs outstanding in the first episode always make me laugh

Does anyone else here get annoyed when people say that MM is unrealistic (even I'll admit that some plots/murders stretch credibility, but that's just TV.)

No I get annoyed when people say "There should be no one left in that village with all the murders." And similar comments usually from non fans. They fail to realise that Midsomer is a fictional county with many villages and towns within it. These places are too small for a full time police force (save the local bobby) and so Barnaby and Co are sent from Causton to investigate.

I'm recording it.

I remember watching it when it first aired back in 1997. I was only 11 at the time and do wonder why I was allowed to stay up and watch it all the way through to I assume 11 o clock and with the added fact that my parents wouldn't have been aware of the content of the series.

Only same as people who believed Jessica Fletcher found a murder in every town and was the world's biggest jinx when of course all the episodes were stories she had written for her books.

Now that you mention it.............no.
What does get my goat is those that the so called "true fans" (as opposed to us that simply watch it to enjoy} giving out about other people comments because they hate to see anything negative said about "their" beloved series/actor.

And while I'm at it, i preferred JN. So there.

It's not my loss, I have them all on DVD, it's ITV's loss

It is very odd watching tonight on ITV3 the Garden Of Death episode that had Neil Dudgeon in it playing a character called Mr Bolt

I was thinking that when watching and makes me think why did they replace John Barnaby with someone who's already made an appearance in the show.

Happens in loads of shows:

Murder She Wrote - William Windom was in the first episode not as Seth, Mort was a policeman in New York in an earlier episode, Herb Endelman was in an earlier series of the show before becoming the main policeman in the 1991 series where Jessica lived in New York.

Mort was actually in it twice as different characters. He also played an electrical store owner in New York.

Good episode

Very disappointed with the new MS episodes. I think they are really far fetched and a bit predictable. Much preferred the older episodes which would keep you guessing until the end. Bring back the old Barnaby or bring in a new writer.

Quite frankly in the 15 years of watching Midsomer I have never see such a boring, badly acted episode in my life, if this episode was a dog it would have been put down I can only hope this is a blip. So so disappointed especially as I expected Maureen Lipman to be much much better.

Well, they really managed to stretch that one out, all those yoga classes etc. I suppose MM is supposed to be far fetched and this one didn't disappoint, but the accuracy of the throws of the javelin and discus things did go a bit OTT.

I wish they could find a more useful role for Mrs B, she is becoming like the last Mrs B joining the local evening classes.

And what on earth was Jones dressed in at the end . I thought the lady ( Kay?) said dress to impress , but he was dressed like a tramp , or is weraring a v neck T shirt with a formal jacket and jeans supposed to be trendy . It certainly didn't look it.